Services for people with Learning Disabilities
Improving the lives of People with Learning Disabilities
All our work is focussed on improving the life chances and experiences of people with a learning disability, their carers and families. We work with key partners and local providers to ensure individuals are provided with equal access to services that matter to us all, and that individuals with care and support needs receive help that is skilled, enabling and life enhancing.
Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR)
NHS England » Learning from lives and deaths – People with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) has been established as a response to the recommendations from the Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths of people with learning disabilities (CIPOLD 2013).
CIPOLD reported that people with learning disabilities are three times more likely to die from causes of death that could have been avoided with good quality healthcare. They also die twenty years younger than the rest of the general population.
The LeDeR programme aims to:
- Identify potentially avoidable contributory factors related to deaths of people with learning disabilities
- Identify variation and best practice in preventing premature mortality of people with learning disabilities
- Develop action plans to make any necessary changes to health and social care service delivery for people with learning disabilities
- Help reduce premature mortality and health inequalities in this population
Northamptonshire Integrated Care System made a commitment to implementing this programme in 2017 and has continued with its commitment to reduce health inequalities for its local population.
Northamptonshire has a three-year LeDeR strategy and produces a yearly report in relation to the reviews completed, lessons learned, and work carried out to reduce inequalities.
LeDeR Annual Report 2022-23 [pdf] 633KB
NHS Northamptonshire ICB Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 [pdf] 7MB
It is essential that all deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic adults are reported via the national programme platform so that we can review and improve services. The reporting platform can be accessed by visiting report the death of someone with a learning disability (leder.nhs.uk)
Annual health checks for people with learning disabilities
People with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health than other people. This does not need to be the case.
Annual Health Checks for people with learning disabilities were introduced as an enhanced service delivered by primary care in 2016. The checks aim to help people keep well and can provide a way to detect, treat and prevent new and unmet health conditions.
Northamptonshire ICB fund four Learning Disability Health Facilitators whose role is to support health services to understand the health needs of people with learning disabilities and support them to meet them equally and effectively. Their overall aim of their work is to reduce avoidable illness, preventable admissions and premature deaths of people with learning disabilities.
Two are employed by the acute hospitals and the other two employed by the ICB support the 69 GP practices.
Quality Checker Service
Northamptonshire ICB funds a Quality Checkers Service.
Quality Checkers are people with learning disabilities that have experience of using health and council services, they are experts by experience. The Quality Checkers visit services provide support and speak to people with learning disabilities (and staff) and then write a report to tell us how the services can be made better. They send their reports to us so that we know what is working well, what’s not working so well and what needs to change. The Quality Checkers tell providers about things that can improve so people have a better experience of their care.
Examples of services checked have included residential and nursing care, supported living, day centres and GP surgeries.